Government cannot force COVID vaccination, current vaccine policy is not unfair: Supreme Court

A big decision has come from the Supreme Court regarding the Covid vaccine. The Supreme Court has said that no one can be compelled to vaccinate. But the government can make policy and impose certain conditions for the greater public good and health. The government can make rules in the areas of physical autonomy. The current vaccination policy cannot be called unfair. The Supreme Court, while giving its verdict, said that this court is satisfied that the present vaccine policy cannot be said to be clearly arbitrary. Physical autonomy comes under the fundamental right to live. The court does not have the expertise to decide on scientific evidence. If there is any obvious arbitrariness, the court can give a verdict.

A bench of Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice BR Gavai, while delivering the verdict, said that the court is not inclined to interfere with the vaccine. The scope of judicial review is limited to the policy decisions taken by the government on the opinion of experts. The court said that the restrictions imposed through the vaccine mandate for the people are not proportionate. As long as the number of Kovids is low, people who do not vaccinate in public areas should not be banned. If there is any such order, it should be withdrawn. Our recommendation does not apply to the enforcement of Fair Practices Rules.

The Supreme Court has said that governments have not kept any data to prove that an unvaccinated person spreads the virus compared to a person who has been vaccinated. We do not agree with the petitioner that the relevant data on current vaccines have not been made available by the Government. And now all relevant data on clinical trials should be made available in the public domain. Government of India to provide data on adverse events. Relevant data on approved vaccines for children should also be available in the public domain. Publicize the data of clinical trials and adverse events related to the Kovid vaccine.